Ottawa, ON – Despite cold November weather, the action heated up across the EOJHL on Thursday night as the Ottawa West Golden Knights delivered a dominant shutout win over Carleton Place, while Casselman continued their strong form with a convincing victory against Smiths Falls.
Ottawa West 9, Carleton Place 0
The Ottawa West Golden Knights put together one of their most complete performances of the season, overwhelming Carleton Place 9–0 on home ice.
After a scoreless opening half of the first, Antonio Zito broke things open on the power play at 12:19, setting the tone for what would become a long night for the Jr. Canadians. Ottawa West followed with eight unanswered goals, spreading the scoring throughout the lineup.
In the second period, Connor Weido, Owen Bird, Dominik Lemieux, and Carter Pilon all found the back of the net, with Lemieux’s tally and Pilon’s late power-play marker giving the Golden Knights a commanding 5–0 lead.
Ottawa West didn’t slow down in the third. Lemieux added his second of the game just 2:27 into the frame, Zito scored again less than two minutes later, and Thomas Dickey and Marcus Mazzuca rounded out the scoring, capping a dominant offensive performance.
At the other end, Dustin Riff was flawless, stopping all 20 shots he faced to secure the shutout. Carleton Place starter Sebastien Janisch made 38 saves before giving way to Callum Clare, who stopped nine of ten in relief.
With the win, Ottawa West improves to 14-2-2-0, while Carleton Place falls to 6-12-1-0.
Casselman 6, Smiths Falls 2
The Casselman Vikings kept their momentum rolling, using a massive special-teams performance to take down Smiths Falls 6–2.
After a tight, scoreless first period, Casselman erupted in the second. Mathieu Cloutier opened the scoring at 4:16, then the Vikings struck twice shorthanded—first at 7:06 when Tristan Webb finished a setup from Cloutier, and again at 15:01 when Cloutier buried his second of the game on an unassisted shorthanded rush.
Smiths Falls cut into the lead late in the frame with Timothy Bourne scoring his third of the year, but Casselman responded immediately with another shorthanded goal from Webb at 19:02, restoring the three-goal cushion.
The Jr. Bears made it 4–2 early in the third on Zach Laporte’s first of the season, but the Vikings put the game away with two more tallies. Alexis Lafrance scored at 12:40, and Thomas Ranger added the finishing touch with nine seconds left.
Émile Pagé stood tall in net for Casselman, turning aside 18 of 20 shots in the win. Smiths Falls goaltender Brandon Partrick faced heavy pressure throughout, making 38 total saves.
Casselman improves to 14-3-0-0, while Smiths Falls drops to 8-12-0-0.
